• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

I am surprised you're not putting forward the business case for free transport for under-18s. If you look at other cities there are good examples where the business community has worked with the mayoralty to produce free bus transport for young people in order that you reduce the school run, for instance; in order that you encourage young people to stay in further education. Those are two issues which relate to the business community because they invest in future employees. The other area which you haven't talked about is congestion. We know that if you reduce the school run, or...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

If it were to come back, have you identified what you might use to leverage in that bond?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Are you committed to thinking again about giving a greater priority to Orbirail when you come to your revised final version of the London Plan?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

I am grateful to Victor Anderson for initiating the discussion on orbital travel in inner or outer London. I am also grateful for the Mayor's straight forwardness on the impact that the Government has had on destroying the private sector's interests in providing support for transport systems in the UK. A lot of criticism has come from South London business people about what is in the Plan and lack of emphasis on public transport, and perhaps the message to go back is that it is the Treasury's fault rather than your fault. Looking at some of the options for Tramlink...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Add my name to the list. On the South London Metro, one of the things we've heard from the ALG and others, is that a lot of the issues around that bit of Orbirail are around signage and maps, which give information to people about how that can be used as a joined-up network. What conversations are you, or Transport for London, having with Network Rail and the Strategic Rail Authority and others, to try and push that forward, because that seems to be a quick and cheap way of getting some of Orbirail in place before the major infrastructure...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

What are you doing about English Heritage?

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

On the East London Line, round Bishopsgate Goods Yard, your statements have been a bit confusing at times. Perhaps you could help by reiterating your views about that. My view is that English Heritage's twelfth hour intervention in trying to get part of the Goods Yard listed, has been unhelpful in delivering a 21st century transport project. I have no problem with that Heritage being involved but their very late intervention was, frankly, anti-democratic. What do you think about that?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

There are lots of jigsaws here in transport to put together. My worry about Crossrail is that this company is in two parts, Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London, but both these bits of funding coming from the same place, which is Government. Isn't that a bit of a worry? If Crossrail doesn't get going, which would be a very sad thing, do you have to tear up the London Plan?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Would you accept that whilst we all support what is said about Orbirail and Crossrail, none of that answers the issue that there is a severe dearth of orbital transport in outer London? Are you aware that the ALG raised that point specifically with the Scrutiny Committee? If the ALG come to you, either singly or with partnership groups, with worked up schemes for comparatively cheap and quick improvements, will you sit down and talk to them about it?

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Back to Orbirail, because this was something I raised at the beginning with you, only because it's so cost effective and I thought it would be a win by 2005. It isn't in the Plan in the way that Victor wants because it's not a mega-project; it already exists. It's a concept of linking existing north, south, east and west lines together into a Metro-style network, and it brings inner-London town cities together with areas of opportunity and deprivation. It was a snip in 1999, when I last had it costed; it was £450 million including the East London Line...